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Cyberplay: The Blitz Works!
November 20, 1997
Web posted at: 9:04 p.m. EST (0204 GMT)By Steven L. Kent
Talk about your tough football situations. The 49ers must work their way out of the hole: Young drops back to pass, dodges a sack and fires a bomb to Rice, who catches it, scrambles and is dropped in Bronco territory for a big first down.
Welcome to the world of Blitz, a new arcade game from Williams Bally Midway, America's reigning arcade game company.
Blitz is not really a football simulation; it's a freewheeling tribute to the spirit of football blown up to its hyperactive extreme. It is the work of Mark Turmell, the genius game creator who first received notoriety for NBA Jam, arguably the most popular sports game in arcade and home video console history.
Turmell is not known for subtlety. The digital athletes in NBA Jam performed such hoops-time high jinx as jumping from the half-court line, doing flips in the air and lighting the basket on fire as they dunked the ball.
Now Turmell has brought this same spontaneous lack of integrity to football, with amazingly fun results.
From the opening kick, you will notice that Blitz is no ordinary football game. The teams collide as the receiver catches the ball and starts out for the other side. With a little help, you can generally return the ball 40 yards on each kick, assuming you run, spin and jump at the exact right moment.
Be prepared for brutal play when your receiver finally gets brought down. Defenders grab your man, spin him around and sling him to the ground. More often than not, they will pounce on a player once he's down, and the commentator very well might say, "That was totally uncalled for, but very entertaining."
Runners aren't the only players who get brutalized. In Blitz, every quarterback sack looks fatal. Sometimes manhandled quarterbacks get up, look at the gigantic defenders and say, "C'mon, I can take you ... and you ... and you and you and you."
Remember, this is a Turmell game; it's got attitude!
It's also got action. Before Blitz, I used to enjoy playing realistic football games. Now I have trouble going back. The other games seem so darn slow.
The runners in Blitz move so quickly that they pick up 20 yards in the time it takes normal video game athletes to gain five. Blitz was designed for easy passing and great rushing. The combination of aggressive defenses and powerful aerial attacks is both volatile and fun.
So here's how the typical game goes: Team 2 receives the kick, runs it for 35 yards and starts its drive. The game never explains why you have such long yardage, but it does keep the game closer. In Blitz, the offense always has the advantage.
With 35 yards to the next Blitz first down, you will probably want to play aggressively. The playbooks in Blitz include 38 passing plays, a punt and a field goal. You get a free extra point after touchdowns unless you want to make a two-point conversion. There are no running plays, but you can always have your quarterback scramble or choose a play that includes a lateral pass.
At first and 35, you may be tempted to go for a "Hail Mary" and make up yardage all at once. Unfortunately, Blitz's 20 defensive plays include several blitzes and a suicide attack. Get too aggressive, and your quarterback is toast. Get sacked three times in a row, and your opponents get ultra-aggressive.
Assuming you make small gains of 15 yards per play, you will find yourself out of the hole and in scoring distance on every drive. This may never happen in real football, but in Blitz it's a common occurrence. Of course, in Blitz, scores of 75-69 are not all that uncommon.
Along with its fast action, punishing tackles and wild sense of humor, Blitz is a technological wonder. The polygon-players in this game look extremely realistic and move with human fluidity. You can certainly tell that you are not seeing real players as you watch the game, but the look of Blitz is impressive.
If the look is impressive, the simplified controls are downright amazing. During offensive plays, you use only a joystick and two buttons, one for passing and jumping, and one for a limited turbo boost. On defense, you have a joystick, a button for tackling and a button for turbo. There simply is no learning curve to get started, and learning the subtleties of the game is a joyful experience for everyone but the game's digital quarterbacks.
Amazing as this may sound, Blitz is the finest arcade game since Street Fighter 2, the Capcom martial arts game that touched off the wave of fighting games and that still dominates most video game arcades. The arcade industry has been suffering from diminishing profits for 15 years now, and Blitz just may be the game that gives it a small shot in the arm to help keep it going.
© 1997, Steven L. Kent. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate
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